Method of making elastic leather



Nov. s, 1938.4 a TROY 2,136,092

METHOD OF MAKING ELASTIQ LEATHER Filed March lO, 1937 l ATTORNEY "woven or knitted fabric, in order to obtain a `rammed Nov. s, 193s uam-:D y STATE `This invention PATENT-#OFFICE ism'rrron or* nnas'rlc yLEATHER Seymour Troy, New York', N.

` Applicaties March 1o, wensen-lain. 129,989 4 `Leersumy (ci.l

relates to leather f and, more "particularly, `to leather of the kind` which'is used "for shoe upper`s,`ladies handbags, purp'es, etc., for f example, suede," kid skin,`and other thin, soft and Y 2,6 leather.` The provision" with said inelastic portion or t HeretoforeL when.` A velasticrnaterials such as Sheet rubber or elastic;

, an ,element p `usually stretchableonly M a direction `at right` angles to i Cil flexible leather.`

' `It is lfrequently necessary or desirable in the manufacture of numerous articles to utilize elas-` ticmaterialortoiprovide said articles with one or more portions When such articles.` as f `made of leather numerous diiilculties are en- Acountered as leather is great manyfinstances, particularly in view of certain structural crdesign practicalor impossible 'to use `the kinds heretoforeknown.

which can stretch and` contract.

lfor example', shoes are inelastic;- Moreover in a t elastic materials of In short, there 'is a substantial demandfor leather which is elastic and yetr is of thesame appearance as inelastic the"appearance of inelastic" of elastic leatherfha'ving leather, f especially y with respect to the smoothness and nnewrinkled "characterthereof, constitutes the maink object of the present invention. Anotherjobjectof the "25% leather which is inelastic invention vis "to provide in one or more portions I and elastic in one or more otherporti'onsintegral portions. f 4 leather` was combined with composite elastic material including leather'as thereof,

the material was the gathering or, wrinkling of the leather in the material to permit is r stretched.

Furthermore,

,contracted condition of the elongation when the rubber Sch material is in one direction," i. e., in

the gathers' in the leather. Compositeelastic material including a leather layer may .be` the present invention so` `directional and hence may in all directions.

` ofthe invention.A

`I have succeeded -ln accordance In the drawing:

made. in accordance with` that itselasticlty is nonstretch and contract This constitutes another object'A in producing elastic leather with themethodwhichfwill hereinafter lbe described with reference tov the accompanyingdravving.y

Fig. 1 is a perspective vievvof apiece lof elastic leather embodying the present invention;

t Fig. .2 is` an enlarged sectional view on the line z-zof Fig. 1; v

Fig. 2A is a view il): n 2.W illustrating requirements it uis lm-v` leather possessing non-directional elasticity;

`a. necessarycharacteristic ofrv mobile tires' i Fig. l, there is and. 1s somewhat thinner fl skins of this character.

,present .inventi.on,.,in utilizing leather skins of l as illustrated in Fig.

fte- 21) composite material having leather layers on both sides thereof; t

Fig. 3 is a more or'less diagrammatic view illustrative of my method of producing elastic leather; i f

Fig. dris a.` fragmentaryv perspective view of composite elastic material having` leather on both of its surfaces; i

t -F1g.5is an emerged sectional view n the une Figs. 6 and? are perspective views illustrating' :successive steps in the method of making the elastic materialillustrated in Fig. 4;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a piece of elastic Fig. 9 isa perspective View of a piece of leather having elastic and non-elastic portions.` i

Referringto the drawing in detail, there is shown inFigsland 2, composite elasticmaterlal I U comprisingv aleatherV layer I2 and a layer i4 yof any suitable elasticmaterlal such as sheet rub# ber or elastic fabric, here shown as relatively thin sheet'rubber. `Said layers I2 and I4 are united flrmlylthroughout their contiguous surfaces by an interposed layer` Idol?` rubber cement. As illustrated in Fig; 2A, a second layer of leather'may be disposed over the othersurface of the layer il and similarly united thereto by Arubber cement. N The rubber cement which for myn purpose is of the is preferably utilized well knownkind commcnlyused for mending the innertubes of auto- In-producing `the Aelastic leather illustrated in utilizedA leather skin such as suede which'is relatively ,soft andexible than the usual run of For the purpose of the or kidskin average thickness, such skins are reduced in `thickness by sklving or splitting. Thuathe rst step `in the. method is to provide a leather skin `or leatherskin portionof suitable thickness less thany that of the average skin thickness. For best results the thickness of the skin is` prefer- .ably abouti!! of an inch. Said Athin skin or skin of reduced thickness is` then lplaced in at condition upon a' suitable table or other support T, 3, and temporarily secured thereto in any suitable way as by a. few tacks (not shown) at the ends of the skin. As illustrated in Fig. 3, the skin I2 is placed on the table T with the wrong sidef the skin uppermost., Either at this time or as a preliminary operation, the surface of the `wrong side of the skin is roughened throughout by sandpaper or some other vsuitable way. Then rubber cement is applied to said roughened surface of the skin and to a surface of the elastic material I 4, said surface having been previously roughened. 'I'hen the elastic layer I4 is anchored at one end thereof to the table T in any suitable. way as by removable tacks I8 and stretched lengthwise as indicated by the arrow A and secured in stretched condition at its other end as by tacks 20. Then while said elastic layer I4 is in stretched condition, and while the adhesive applied thereto and to the leather layer I2 is still somewhat tacky, said layers are firmly pressed together tozflrmly unite them adhesively throughout their contiguous surfaces. After a few minutes or when the adhesive is set and the said layers are firmly united the tacks or other means utilized for securing the elastic layer in stretched condition, and the tacks or other means utilized for temporarily fastening the leather layer to the table, are removed thus releasing the tension on the elastic layer and permittlngt-he same to contract. y The composite material thus produced possesses substantial elasticity, the leather and rublayers being stretchable and contractable as a unit without visible wrinkling or gathering of the leather layer. Measurements of the lengths of layers I2 and I4 before and .after their attache ment to each other in the manner just described, indicate that the-length of the leather layer AI2 is decreased in the compositeelastic material in its normal contracted state, while the length of the elastic layer I4 in said composite material, in its normal contracted state, is intermediate the lengths thereoiin its stretched and unstretched states and hence is -partially stretched. It is found, however, thatv although the leather layer I2 has been reduced in length the at and smooth y v condition of its outer surface is not impaired, but ,Y

von vthe contrary is, at least tol the nakedeye, as smooth asV ordinary leather skin with which the art is familiar. fr Y f y 1 y In producing the elasticleather by the method described above, it is preferable that the leather layer I2 be somewhat wider than the layer I4 of elastic material in the stretched condition of the latter as illustrated in Fig. 3. When such wider layer is used and attached to the elastic layer as ,described above-it is found that in the resulting compositevel'astic material marginalportions ofA the leather layer vat opposite side-edges of the elastic layer are gathered or wrinkled, but that the intermediate portion which overlies the elastic layer and is adhesively united therewithl is smooth, as herelnbefore stated. Unlessv said gatheredy or wrinkled marginal portions are desired they are removed by cutting through the composite material along longitudinal lines 22 inwardly of the side'edges ofthe elastic layer. Y For producing composite elastic material having leather layerson both sides, as illustrated in Fig. 2A, the second leather layer vI2 is adhesively united with the elasticlayei' I4 while they latter is in stretched condition, as illustrated in Fig. 3, in which case said second layer is also preferably wider than the interposed elastic layer and hence said three layers are cut through along longitudinal lines,usuch as indicated at 22 in Fig. 3, producing composite elastic material having leather layers on both vsides thereof. In the material thus produced, the side edges of the interposed elastic layer are visible at the side edges of the composite material which maybe desired As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the interposed layer of elastic material is completely covered by leather. For this purpose there is utilized a piece of leather 26 which is superposed on one surface of the elastic layer 28 and folded over the opposite surface of said layer, and adhesively united with both of said surfaces and completely`covering the latter as well as the side edges of said intermediate elastic layer. For producing the vcomposite elastic material here shown, the piece 'of' leather layer 26, wide enough to cover both surfaces of the elastic layer 28, is roughened and coated with rubber .cement andthen the rubber layer 28 in stretched condition is adhesively united with said leather layer edges ,of the latter. Then the marginal portions 21 of the leather layer are `adhesively united with 4the othersurface of the rubber layer 28 while said rubber layer is still under tension. After the adhesive has set, the tension on said rubber layer is released.` As in the case ofthe material I8, it is found `that the length of the leather piece 26 has decreased, while the length of the interposed `elastic material 28 is intermediate the lengths thereof in its stretched and unstretched condition, but the outer surfaces `of `the leather are smooth'and the composite material is elastic.

In accordance with another form of the invention'. composite material which is elastic in at least two directions may be produced. Such materialv is illustrated in Fig. 8, and is designated by the reference numeral 82. As here shown, said material. comprises a leather layer 34 and a layer 'of sheet 'i rubber or other elastic material '36 adhesively united throughout their contiguous surfaces by rubber cement 38. In producing this material, a method similar to that described above for producing the `composite elastic material I0, is utilized,v but instead of stretching the layer Vof elastic material 88 in one direction, said materialis stretched in. two directions at right angles to each other, and while under tension, is firmly united with the leather layer. Upon release of the tension, it is found that the composite elastic material can stretch and contract in at least two directions, as indicated bythe arrows B andC.

VIn the form of the invention illustratedin Fig. 9, leather having elastic and non-elastic portions in integral relation is produced. Thus, as here shown,i the material 40 has an inelastic portion 42 and an elastic `portion 44. For producing this material, the skin is reduced in thickness in the portionjthereof to which elasticity'is to be imparted.; 'Ihen a layer 48 of sheetrubber or other suitable elastic material instretched condition is firmly united with said thinned portion 4t of theA leather skinv as described above.

It will be understood, however, that in attach- -ingthe tensioned glayer of elastic material to the 'Ihe uses to' which the elastic leather embodying I the present inventionv may be put will be readily understood particularly by those skilled in the art relating to the manufacture of shoes, ladies' handtherearound o r at the `pump for preventing cutting of the wearer's foot 4said layer of elastic material tension.

bags, purses, belts for dresses, etc. Thus, for example, said elastic leather may be used in shoe uppers for' permitting the upper to stretch at the foot opening of the shoe, either completely instep portion, as in a at the instep; also, fastening straps for low shoes may be made wholly or partly of this elastic rub#- ber and when so made it will be possible to eliminate releasable fastening vices such as buckles and buttons. It will be understood. however, that since the invention is capable of numerous other uses I do not wish to be limited to those herein specified. It will be understood that various changes in the constructions and methods herein disclosed. may be made and will occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited precisely to the present disclosure, except as 'may be required by the appended claims considered with reference to the prior art.

Having thus vdescribed my invention, what I claim as new and useful is:

1. The method of making elastic leather which comprises providing a layer of soft and flexible leather such as suede o kidskin, stretching a layer of elastic sheet material over said leather, interposing a layer of rubber cement between said layers of `leather and elastic sheet material, pressing the contiguous surfaces of said layers together while said elastic sheet material is stretched and under tension and while said leather layer is unstretched whereby to adhesively unite said layers in superposed relation while said layer of elastic material is in said stretched and tensioned condition, and thereafter releasing from extraneous 2. The method of making elastic leather which comprises providing a layer of soft and flexible leather such as suede or kidskin of a thickness not exceeding about nl, of one inch, stretching a layer of elastic sheet materialy over said leather, interposing a layer of rubber cement between said' layers of leather and elastic sheet material, pressing the contiguous surfaces of said layers together while said elastic sheet material is stretched and under tension and while said leather layer is unstretched whereby to adhesively unite said layers in superposed relation while said layer of elastic material is in said stretched and tensioned condition, and thereafter releasing said layer oi elastic material from extraneous tension.

l3. The method of making composite sheet ma- 'y terial which has an elastic portion and an elastic portion which comprises reducing the thickness of a portion of a layer of soft and flexible leather such as suede or kidskin, stretching a layer of elastic sheet material over said leather portion of reduced thickness, interposing a layer of rubber cement between said elastic layer and the contiguous surface of said portion of the leather layer, pressing thecontiguous surfaces ofvsaid layers together whilevsaid elastic sheet material is stretched and under tension and while said leather layer is unstretched whereby to adhesively unite said layers Vin superposed relation while said layer of elastic material is in said stretched and tensioned condition, and thereafter releasing said layerof velastic-material from extraneous tension.

i SEYMOUR TROY. 

